Apparatus for controlling the flow of fluids through conduits.



I J; 1. M., GUEUX.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THEILOW 0 F FLUIDS THROUGH CONDUITS,

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 24. 1914.

Patented-NOV. 2, 1915.

I lwhnyov ration.

JOSEPH JEAN MARIE GUEUX, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW FLUIDS THROU GH CONDUITS.-

Specification of Letters Fatent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

-Application filed February 24, 1914. Serial No. 820,772.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JosEPH JEAN MARIE Gonux, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Paris, France, have'invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Apparatus ,for Controlling the Flow of Fluids Through Conduits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in a conduit for fluids, such as a water pipe, in order to regulate and limit the output to a constant quantity, whatever he the variations of pressure that take place in the pipe. This apparatus can also be used as a meter, as will be hereinafter explained.

Several constructions according to this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which I Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the device. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a modified construction of the apparatus, Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of a' further construction, and Fig. 4 is a section of a'device that can be used for placing the apparatus in communication with the atmosphere.

The apparatus comprises a tubular cylindrical body a divided into two compartas will be explained hereinafterg A collar h can be arranged on the central portion of ments by a piston 6 provided with a central hole 0. The body a is connected to the pipe at its two ends by suitable-branches d. Near,

one of the ends of the body a, a transverse partition 6 is secured provided with holes for the escape of the .fluid and provided in the center with a rod f, the operativeportion of which is conical and can terminate at its free end'in a disk 9 forming a valve,

the rod, at the beginning-of the cone, for the purpose of closing the orifice c of the piston when the latter reaches the end of its stroke toward the right (Fig. 1).- The piston is controlled by an antagonistic spring 2' resting at one end against the partition and.

having the tendency to push the piston 5 toward the left. .WVhen the fluid is admitted into the apparatus in the. direction of the arrow F, its pressure .acts on the piston b" so as to move it backto an extent correspondmg with the pressure 1n question, and

' the fluid then passes. through'the annular space between the conical portion of the rod f'and the edge of thehole 0, it fills the body a and escapes through the holes in the partition einto the pipe.

increases. greater the pressure, the smaller will be the CI'OSS SECUO'II'FOf the passage left open,.and

In view of'the taper of the rod f, it will be seen that the farther to the right the piston is moved, the more completely the central portion of the orifice 0 will be closed by the'rod f, the diameter of which gradually "It follows therefore that the if the dimensions of the elements have been properly determined, the output of the fluid will be constant at any pressure. If the latter'becomes too strong, the diaphragm piston. provided with the hole 0, will press against the collar i1,- and close the hole a so that the output is stopped. If the pipe breaks at a point upstream of the apparatus, there will be produced at that'side a depression which will result in the spring 11 immediately moving the piston to that side, and the pistonwill press against the disk 9 and close the hole 0 and thus prevent the contents of the portion of the conduit situated below stream, from passing through the apparatus and escaping through the break. If the breakage takes place below'stream, the pressure above streamwill cause the piston b'to press against the collar h, and so stop the escape. 'This arrangement which is suitable forisimple installations and comparatively other cases, and then the construction shown in Fig. 2 could be used, in which the i'dd f is no longer in the centerof thepartition e,

,but attheside of the latter, while' the pis-. ton 1) 1s provided, with a central rod j, the

operative portion of which-is conical, and can terminate in a disk 7a,,in order to close the central orifice Z provided in the partition 6 for the passage of-the rod'j'. I,

In this construction, the fluid arriving in the direction ofthe arrow F, first passes through the orifice c'of the piston, fills'the second portion ofv the body a and escapes through'th'e orifice Z. The donical portions ofthe samecross-section, and the hole Ziis of a diameter equal tothat of the hole a, so that the fluid '1n 1ts passage, meets tworesistances instead of only one, as in the'construction previously described, which results in the effect of the pressure changes being less of the-rods f and j are of equal length and duced, in which case the orifice (2 can be closed by the disk y, and the orilice by the disk In.

\Vhen larger t'lill'erences of pressure. have to be dealt with, the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 can. be used, which differs from that previously described in certain respects, especially by the fixing of a, second conical rod m to the center of the piston b, and by the lixlng, in front of the body 1/, of a partition '21 provided with a central hole 0 for the passage of the rod m. In this case, the fluid, in-

its passage, meets three resistances, as it has to pass the orifices o, c and I, the crosssection of which is equal and, is the smaller, the greater the pressure. This latter arrangement is suitable in the majority of cases, but nevertheless when very high pressures are involved which, in the case of .a sudden stoppage of the output for any reason, may produce hammerii'ig, the tubular body a is extended in front of the apparatus by a tubular portion p of the same diameter, formed by several elements arranged side by side and clamping between them, two by two, a partition Q similar to the other partitions and-provided with acentral hole 7'. The central rodm is extended to form corresponding conical portionsws which will closethe orifices rte an extent correspond- )ressure of -10 k )er St. centimeter at the inlet, and a pressure of 15 kg. at the outlet; this difference being due to thelosses of head in the apparatus, which result in the pressures varying in the various compartments formed by the partitions and by the piston. lnthese conditions, when the pressure at the outlet sinks below 15 kg. it is necessary that the drawing of water should cease, because a greater quantity of fluid would then escape than is provided for; The disks such'as g orlc properly close the apparatus in these conditions, but cannot insure an absolute closing, and in order to obviate the drawback in question, the tubular body a. is provided with the device .shown in Fig. 4:, which-consists of a small cylinder 25 connected to the tubular body by a conduit u on which another part 2; is connected. open ing behind the piston an arranged in the cylinder t. This piston itself is provided with an angular conduit 3 conm'iunicating with the atmosphere, and exposed to the action of an antagonistic spring .2, the tension of which can be regulated by a nut 10 screwed into a branch of the cylinder 1., as shown in the drawing. By screwing or unscrewing the said nut w, the tension of the spring 2 iseasily regulated, and assuming the example previously mentioned. the said spring can be regulated so that it should be able to overcome a pressure of 15 kg. In normal working, the'pressure being greater than that figure, the fluid enters through the conduits u and L behind the piston .r in order to push the latter to the left (Fig. at) and to movethe conduit y away from the conduit u. If hmvever, the pressure behind the piston a, that is to say, in the second compartment, sinks below.15 kg. the spring 2 will push the piston .13 toward the right, the conduit 3 is brought into connnunication with the conduit to and consequently the body a is in communication with the atmosphere' The depression lmmediately produced behind the piston (2, causes the latter to be pushed toward the right (Fig. with the maximum of intensity, and the hole 0 of the partition 17. to be closed by disk Z in order to stop the output.

Only one opening corresponding to one conical rod, has been shown for the piston, as well as for the partitions, but it is obvious, more particularly for apparatus of large dimensions, that each partition, as well as membranes of the piston b, may be provided with several holes, one rod corresponding to each of the said holes. In this case, as the sum of the cross-sections of the holes of each partition or piston must be of course equal to the cross-section of the single hole, the cross-sections ofthe eonical' rods would be reduced accordingly.

The rods 7", j, m and s have beendescribed as being conical, but theoretically this is inaccurate, as the generatrix of the said rods must be a curve, so that the cross-section of the three annular orifices should be always exactly in inverse ratio to the pressure. Moreover, in practice, theconical portion of the said rods is givena length which is the greater, the greater is thesensitiveness tobe obtained. Finally, the shape of the rods need not be conical or approximately conical',,they can be for instance pyramidal or have any other cross-section than circular cross-section, in which case the crosssection of the orifices must be of course a polygon or a figure similar to that of the cross-section of the rods.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in What manner'the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In a device of the class'described, a. casing, a piston therein provided with an varyingfcross' section carried'by the piston opening, a spring bearing against said piston and a stationary member of varying cross section arrangedto ,project into the opening of the piston and to partly closethe' opening when the spring is compre ssed, a diaphragm Within the casing having an opening therein, and a second member of and arranged to project through the opening in the diaphragm for partly closing said opening. p v

2. Ina device of the class described,'a

casing, a piston therein provided with an opening, a spring bearing against the piston, a diaphragm 1n the cas1ng.hav1ng an opening-therein, and a plurality of members having ends tapering .in opposite directionsmounted to partly close-the aforesaid openings.

3. In a 7 casing, a piston th' erein provided with an opening, a spring bearingagainst the piston, a diaphragm in the casing having an opening therein, -a plurality of members having ends; tapering in opposite directions mounted to partly close the aforesaid openings, and acollar onth'e reduced end of one of the tapering members.

device o f' the class, described, a"

4. In a device of the class'described, a casing, a piston therein providedwith an opening, a spring bearing against said piston,- a stationary member of varyingcross section arranged to projectinto the opening of the piston and partly close the same when the spring is compressed, and a collar on the reduced end of said member adaptedto close the opening at times.-

5. In a device of the class described, a casing,'a piston therein provided with an opening, a spring bearing against said piston, a stationary member of varying cross section arranged to project into the opening of the piston and partly close the same when the spring is compressed, a collar on the reduced end of said member adapted td-close the opening at times, and means for connecting'one end of the casing with the atmosphere when the pressure is reduced at that end. 

